Reporting year 2019

Children's social work workforce

Data guidance

Published

Data files

All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.

FTE and Headcount characteristics

Filename
CSWW_FTE_and_Headcount_characteristics_2019.csv
Geographic levels
Local authority; National; Regional
Time period
2017 to 2019
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
characteristic_typeCharacteristic type - Filter by characteristic type
countCount type - Filter by count
numberNumber of children and family social workers at 30 Sept
percent% of children and family social workers at 30 Sept
Footnotes
  1. Headcount is a count of all distinct children and family social workers: where a social worker holds more than one post only one record is counted.
  2. Full-time Equivalent (FTE) figures are calculated by aggregating the total number of hours that social workers are contracted to work and dividing by the standard hours for their grade. FTE figures exclude social workers for whom FTE information was missing or not known.
  3. Information where the gender of a social worker was not known is not shown separately in the table; a small amount of gender information was not known in the year ending September 2018 and September 2019, therefore figures for females and males do not sum to totals.
  4. Social workers included in this table are those registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council and either work in a local authority in a children’s services department or, if working in an authority where the services are joined up, work exclusively on children and families work.

FTE and Headcount rates

Filename
CSWW_FTE_and_Headcount_rates_2019.csv
Geographic levels
Local authority; National; Regional
Time period
2017 to 2019
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
absence_rate_fteAbsence rate throughout year (FTE)
agency_cover_fteNumber of agency workers at 30 Sept of which covering vacancies (FTE)
agency_cover_headcountNumber of agency workers at 30 Sept of which covering vacancies (Headcount)
agency_cover_rate_fteAgency cover rate (FTE)
agency_cover_rate_headcountAgency cover rate (Headcount)
agency_fteNumber of agency workers at 30 Sept (FTE)
agency_headcountNumber of agency workers at 30 Sept (Headcount)
agency_worker_rate_fteAgency worker rate (FTE)
agency_worker_rate_headcountAgency worker rate (Headcount)
case_holders_fteNumber of caseholders (FTE)
caseload_fteAverage caseload (FTE)
casesNumber of cases held
leaver_fteNumber of children and family social workers leaving during year (FTE)
leaver_headcountNumber of children and family social workers leaving during year (Headcount)
social_worker_fteNumber of children and family social workers at 30 Sept (FTE)
social_worker_headcountNumber of children and family social workers at 30 Sept (Headcount)
turnover_fteTurnover rate (FTE)
turnover_headcountTurnover rate (Headcount)
vacancy_fteVacancies at 30 Sept (FTE)
vacancy_rate_fteVacancy rate (FTE)
working_days_lost_fteNumber of days of work missed due to sickness absence during year (FTE)
Footnotes
  1. Turnover rates have been calculated as follows: 100 * ( Number of leavers during the year / Number of children's social workers at 30 September)
  2. Headcount is a count of all distinct children and family social workers: where a social worker holds more than one post only one record is counted.
  3. Full-time Equivalent (FTE) figures are calculated by aggregating the total number of hours that social workers are contracted to work and dividing by the standard hours for their grade. FTE figures exclude social workers for whom FTE information was missing or not known.
  4. Agency worker rates have been calculated as follows: 100 * { Number of agency workers / (Number of children's social workers + Number of agency workers) } and are based on a snapshot at 30 September.
  5. Children and family social worker vacancies including vacancies covered by agency workers, on a FTE basis only.
  6. Absence rate has been calculated as follows: 100 * {Number of days missed due to sickness absence/ ( FTE number of children’s social workers x 253)}, where 253 is the number of working days in a year accounting for bank holidays. The number of days sickness is counted during year ending 30 September.
  7. Vacancy rates have been calculated as follows: 100 * { FTE number of vacancies / (FTE number of children's social workers + FTE number of vacancies)} and are based on a snapshot at 30 September.
  8. Leavers are social workers who left a child and family social worker post at a local authority in the year ending 30 September. This includes social workers who are staying at a local authority, but moving to a non-child and family role, for example moving to adult social care.
  9. Social workers included in this table are those registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council and either work in a local authority in a children’s services department or, if working in an authority where the services are joined up, work exclusively on children and families work.

Starters and Leavers characteristics

Filename
CSWW_Starters_and_Leavers_characteristics_2019.csv
Geographic levels
Local authority; National; Regional
Time period
2017 to 2019
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
characteristic_typeCharacteristic type - Filter by characteristic type
countCount type - Filter by count
leavers_percent% of children and family social worker leaving during year
number_of_leaversNumber of children and family social workers leaving during year
number_of_startersNumber of children and family social workers starting during year
starters_percent% of children and family social workers starting during year
Footnotes
  1. Headcount is a count of all distinct children and family social workers: where a social worker holds more than one post only one record is counted.
  2. Full-time Equivalent (FTE) figures are calculated by aggregating the total number of hours that social workers are contracted to work and dividing by the standard hours for their grade. FTE figures exclude social workers for whom FTE information was missing or not known.
  3. Starters are social workers who joined a vacant child and family social worker post at a local authority in the year ending 30 September. This includes social workers who have previously worked in the same local authority, but in a non-child and family role.
  4. Information where the gender of a social worker was not known is not shown separately in the table; a small amount of gender information was not known in the year ending September 2018 and September 2019, therefore figures for females and males do not sum to totals.
  5. Leavers are social workers who left a child and family social worker post at a local authority in the year ending 30 September. This includes social workers who are staying at a local authority, but moving to a non-child and family role, for example moving to adult social care.
  6. Social workers included in this table are those registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council and either work in a local authority in a children’s services department or, if working in an authority where the services are joined up, work exclusively on children and families work.